The Yellow Wind
by Katana King
Summary: Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.  Summary: A legend, a romance, a promise.  They were created, broken, and fufilled with the return of a certain ninja, and now the question is, what happened and what is going to happen? Read and find out. [NaruSaku]
1. Cotton Candy Reminder

**So here I am again. I decided to make another fanfic and I hope that this one will be as good as my other one. Just wanna say thanks for reading my other fics and I totally appreciate it. So anyways, this story will probably be like my other story, but it's different also in a way. I've just had this idea dwelling and so I really wanted to type it up and see how it does. Also, I seemed to have lost my writing notebook, so I'll be making this story up as it goes on.**

**I also have a question to ask. I've seen in some author notes about talks about a "beta". What exactly is that? Is that like a person you send your story in to check it first before adding it as a chapter, like a proofreader? If that is what a beta is, would one of you like to be my "beta" and email me.**** Thanks to those who accepts this job.**

**Alright, on with the story of The Yellow Wind.**

**Cotton Candy Reminder**

The Yellow Wind. His name spread far and wide over the 5 great countries striking fear in every man's hearts. Usually, it were men or women who've done horrendous crimes and also those people doing evil who were just unlucky to be within his range. However, to the victims of the crimes, that name spread joy throughout their hearts as they were soon to be saved from there nightmares. He moved from one town to the next, accompanied by his mentor, another man with a legendary title, or titles. Although the towns were always grateful for his heroism, they never were able to properly thank the mysterious hero face to face. He was usually gone from the scene, leaving the few witnesses to his acts baffled. Why had he left before being thanked? Why wouldn't he want to be acknowledged by the people he just saved?

Entering a fair in another town, the blonde legend walked up towards a cotton candy maker.

"One cotton candy please."

"Which flavor?"

"Any."

The cotton candy maker finished up his batch, and gave the pink fluff to the blonde legend. He stared at it, and sighed, as it reminded him of someone he knew from a village, someone special.

* * *

_**January 12 – 2 Years Into the Past **_

An 18 year old, blonde haired Jonin, walked side-by-side by his long time crush, Sakura. Naruto Uzumaki, clad in an orange jacket, ninja pants, and ninja boots, hung his arms over his head whistling an unknown tune as he looked towards the distance. His partner, about as high as his chin, walked with her head in a confused expression. Earlier today, she finally agreed to having Naruto take her out to dinner, which was the first thing to confuse her. Why had she agreed? She reasoned that after 5 years of his constant pestering, she decided that one little outing together would finally make him stop asking her. That was it, right? A little voice in her head seemed to doubt it, but she accepted her reason.

After that, Naruto asked her for a walk and before she realized it, she had accepted. This was the second thing to confuse her. So they walked, talking to each other about little things like weather, training, missions, and you know, the usual. So here she was, in the snowy coldness of winter, walking with Naruto on what seemed like an endless path. She was still trying to figure out why she had agreed to what she had agreed to. Her thoughts came to a stop as she noticed Naruto stopped walking. Sakura, more confused now, turned to her teammate.

"Shhh." His head stood still, but his eyes were darting around, surveying he surroundings. Sakura noticing this too, stood still, trying to find their stalker. After finding no signs of anyone, she started to speak again, but Naruto put a finger on her mouth. As soon as he placed his finger on her lips, she felt a nice tingly feeling run throughout her body. Why was her body acting this way to his touch? What was this feeling on her face, this hot sensation coming from his touch? Her thoughts, as fast as they came, disappeared as she quickly reasoned it was cause of the cold temperature and the fact of them being potentially stalked.

"Sakura," he began in a slight whisper, breaking the long silence between them, "Do you sense anyone?"

Finally lifting his finger off of her lips, she took a deep breath before beginning to speak.

"I felt someone earlier up in the trees of this path, but when we stopped I lost his trail."

"Okay," Naruto now in his joyous voice, signaled for them to continue.

"Where are we going exactly? And why are you taking me?"

"Well, its a place very important to me," he took a deep breath before continuing, "and I'm taking you because I need to, um, talk to you about something."

Sakura now put on her confused expression again. _"What does he want to tell me? And just where is this place he's taking me that is so important to him? Just what is he planning?" _Naruto, now noticing her perplexed face, ushered for them to keep walking. Sakura, started walking, suddenly a little too close to Naruto. She would practically start feeling his muscled arms if she went a little closer. Naruto, noticing this, blushed slightly at the distance between himself and his life long love. So being Naruto, he started to begin a conversation so that maybe she would distance away a little so he wouldn't have a breakdown right there. With a slight cough he began to speak.

"So, Sakura-chan," she looked at him as if she would be answered her questions, still very close to his body. Her emerald eyes, although the shade of the night sky made everything dark, shined brightly into Naruto's ocean blue eyes, waiting for an answer. Naruto, lost in her shining eyes, forgot all thoughts of conversation. He was always mesmerized by her eyes, and with staring at him this close, he seemed even more hypnotized by her stare. The kunoichi, also stared into his eyes, diving deep into the blue abyss that he called eyes. Snapping back to reality, the medic-nin grew slightly irritated that he hadn't spoken at all.

"Naruto!"

He fazed back into the real world upon hearing his name being called by none other than Sakura.

"Yeah Sakura-chan?"

"You were about to say something..."

"Oh..uh...um...," he looked towards the sky, "The stars are really pretty tonight, right Sakura-chan?"

Following suit, she looked up towards the sky, and marveled at all he stars out in the sky, twinkling every second. He was right, they were very beautiful tonight.

"Yeah, they are Naruto."

"I love watching the stars at night."

"_Huh, Naruto watches the stars at night. Who knew a guy like him comes out at night to stare at the stars."_ Sakura spoke still not realizing how close their bodies were.

"So you come out at night to watch the stars?"

"Yeah. See, I would go to the place I'm taking you, and just lie down on the grass just staring up into the stars. They make me relaxed and at peace. Even the the Kyuubi," he pointed towards the seal, "seems to relax."

"**What the hell Kit! That's supposed to be a secret!"**

"_So! It's not like she could see you or make fun of you or anything." _

Sakura's voice interrupted his discussion with the demon.

"Is that all you do?"

"Well sometimes I think about Sasuke and-" he stopped when Sakura tilted her head downward at the sound of his name. Why was she so depressed when she heard his name? She thought that she was over him and that he was just a fallen comrade. So why had she felt a jolt of pain strike through her heart the moment she heard his name? Finally taking this silence too awkward, Naruto spoke up.

"I know you still love him Sakura-chan. That's why I haven't stopped thinking about him. I always wonder if he would ever come back or if he finally finished his goal. Maybe he will return after that, but rest assured Sakura-chan, I will make him come back to Konoha, just like I promised you all those years ago."

Hearing this, Sakura tilted her head upwards, her eyes boring deep into his eyes, through the open windows, and into his soul. Was he just saying that, or did he actually mean it? She got her answer when she found no signs of lying, trickery, or anything of that sort. A stray tear slid down her face as she drew her hand to wipe it off.

"Naruto, you don't have to do that anymore. I've realized he's just a silly crush and the Sasuke I knew, wasn't really there at all. He's just-"

"But Sakura-chan, why did you turn sad when I said his name then? You still love him, and someone as beautiful as you should get happiness and if being with Sasuke makes you happy, then with all the power I have, I will bring him back."

Sakura looked at him with a mixed amount of emotions. Would he really do all of that just for her happiness? She knew that he liked her the way she liked Sasuke, but she''s been so busy lately, that she'd hardly noticed anything around the village at all. Now that she thought about all their past adventures, he was always there to save her. Not Sasuke, but Naruto. Her vision of Naruto had just made a 180 degree turn. The blonde ninja she'd known as an annoying, loud-mouthed, unpredictable, non-thinking, and stubborn was gone. Here was a more matured, stronger, smarter, and she had to admit, pretty hot Naruto.

Realizing just how close she had been to Naruto, she graciously took a step back, with a more than noticeable blush adorning her face. Naruto, in turn, became confused to the max. Why was she blushing? It couldn't have been him, could it? I mean, he knew he got a little more better looking from the little fan club of girls he has in Konoha that had formed around when he was about 16. Still, he pondered on why she had been blushing? Then, a rushing thought came to his mind, _did she have feelings for me?_

"_Do I have feelings for him?" _That thought ran throughout her mind as she tried to figure out whether or not it was true. Were these feelings for him just started today, or has she had these feelings in the past. She remembered a moment where one Naruto fan girl was holding onto his arm and for a split moment she had felt...jealously? Yes, for that one moment, she admitted she had felt jealous. Of course, at that time, she wouldn't admit that, and so the jealously had turned into anger and before the girl knew it, she was in the hospital with the very person who injured her, healing her.

For like the billionth time tonight, she looked into his eyes, Naruto doing the same. They were stuck in a trance, desperately searching for each others feelings. Her shining emerald eyes, stared deeply into crystal blue eyes, and vise-versa. Unconsciously the two seemed to get closer towards each other, until their bodies stood merely an inch apart. Their faces stood close, eyes still lost in each other. The gap between them grew closer to a close, their lips merely millimeters apart. Closer, and closer, their feelings finally coming to one conclusion. They closed their eyes, their faces leaning in until...

Their lips met. The gap was no longer their, and for a moment, both were lost in eternal bliss. Sakura's dormant feelings for Naruto, and Naruto's love for Sakura, erupted from that kiss. A gust of wind blew, and they broke apart, opening their eyes and looking into each other. They stood still in silence, the event that happened playing throughout each other's mind.

Sakura, who had no doubt of her love for Naruto, smiled one of her true smiles. This was, since Sasuke's betrayal, one of her true smiles. The pleasure, the emotion she felt throughout her body was better than anything she could imagine and this made her happy. Truly happy. Seeing this Naruto smiled as well, one out two of his biggest dreams finally accomplished. He was very happy. Probably the most happiest he's been in a while. Although it was one short, sweet kiss, it told him everything. Sakura really liked him, and possibly loved him the way he loved her, and that was enough. Breaking the silence, Sakura, her lips still tingling from their rather dramatic event, spoke in a quiet, yet cheerful voice.

"So, you still taking me to your very important place?"

"Of course, Sakura-chan!"

Holding out his arm, the pink haired medic-nin gladly took the gesture, as she grabbed his arm, and laid her head on it. This was perfect.

* * *

Taking a bite out of the cotton candy, a slight tear graced his cheek as he whispered to himself so that nobody else but himself could here him. 

"Why, Sakura?"

* * *

**Alright, finished with this chapter. Can't believe how much fluff I could put into a story. As I was typing this, I thought of turning this into a one-shot and just removing the beginning and the ending, but I like multi-chaptered stories more, so it shall be an adventure. **

**So just a note from above, if my definition of "beta" is correct, can someone please send me their e-mail address. Thanks again.**

**I will try to update all of my stories, however with classes and studying and work, I don't know if I would be able to keep with constant updating, so don't expect fast updates.**

**As I like to stress, please, if you read this story, REVIEW! REVIEW!! REVIEW!!!**


	2. The Gate of Memories

**Alright, so I'm finally updating this story and I'll have my other story updated as soon as I can. Thanks for all the reviews and those who replied for the beta job. Sorry for the long reply, but my computer just broke down and so I just got it fixed and hooked up yesterday. Anyways, that's all I have to say so on with the story.**

**The Gate of Memories**

_**Last Time on The Yellow Wind**_

_Naruto Uzumaki, a legend called The Yellow Wind stopped at a fair and ordered some cotton candy. Viewing the pink fluff, he drifted off into a memory of his old days back in Konoha. It revealed that after taking a walk on a seemingly never ending path, the two seemed to recognized their feelings for one another and kissed. The happiest moment of his life, and the start of the legend. Awaking from his memory, a slight tear fell on his face as he muttered the words, "Why Sakura?"_

_

* * *

_

The two legends raced through the forests, deserting the scene behind them. Just a few minutes ago, a huge explosion near the ferris wheel went off, and being the hero that he is, Naruto went over to check out the commotion. The wheel had been knocked down and there were some people trapped in the debris.

"Give me all your cash!!"

The man swung around his gun, pointing it to everybody and firing his bullets, which unfortunately, hit some people causing them to howl in pain. Naruto, getting very angry, threw one of his "special" kunai near the debris, disappearing and reappearing towards the place he threw the kunai. Rescuing the people in unknown speeds he placed them all in one area, telling them it's going to be alright.

He looked towards the man, who was steaming for what he did.

"How dare you mess with me! I am Kurosiki Matchata, former Jonin of the Waterfall Village. You will pay for your-"

Naruto, not feeling very happy at the moment, silenced him with a punch through the stomach in a blur, and then running away from the scene towards the exit of the village. He did this at every place he saved people, save and run. Although he would love the attention, he learned long ago that some ninjas, especially ones outside of their village shouldn't allow the chance of having them spotted. Besides, the man was unconscious and the village should be able to take care of the rest.

"Hey! Ero-sennin!"

"What'd I tell you about that name?!?! You've been calling me that for like 7 years now, can't you actually show some respect!"

"I will once you stop being so pervy all the time! Anyways, this path seems familiar. Where are you taking us?"

"We're going back to Konoha!"

"Oh, WAIT! WHAT?!?!?"

"Why, why, why, why-"

The toad sage let out a sigh after seeing his pupil's reaction. He knew this was going to be hard for Naruto, but lately, he's been getting too sad too easily if he saw pink, or cherries, or sakura trees, and just things that remind him of Sakura. He knew that if he was ever going to become strong to his fullest potential, he has to take care of this problem once and for all.

"Listen Naruto. You're becoming weak. This pain in your heart, your enemies will exploit it, and use it against you. Your emotions can be your strongest weapon, yet it could be your greatest weakness. You've been showing it a lot more recently, and I'm sure that your enemies will find it, and use it against you."

"But-"

"No buts. Naruto, you have to take care of your problem, or else you won't get any stronger than you are right now. You're still not strong enough to defeat Akatsuki and then what? They are your enemies and sooner or later, one of them is bound to find your weakness. Understand?"

"Yes. Though, I do wonder what's gonna happen. You think they'll still remember me?"

"How could they forget Konoha's Number One Hyperactive, Knucklehead Ninja? Still, we also have to get there for another reason."

"What's the other reason?"

"The Hokage granted us permission to leave the village, right?" Naruto nodded his head. "Remember the condition?" Again, Naruto nodded his head and let out a sigh. "We've got two days left, and then we'll become missing-nins."

The rest of the journey was silent, no one speaking a word. They had stopped to rest just as night turned to its darkest.

"We'll stop here for now. It's not good to travel when it's dark."

Naruto agreed and was soon in his sleeping bag. The night appeared calm as steady, as the light snores of the pervy sage sounded throughout the camp. In Naruto's mind however, it was pure and utter chaos. His mind was filled with so many questions, so many voices. His mind fluttered with visions of his fellow comrades faces of disappointment and sadness. When the one love of his life's face popped up, his mind focused solely on her. How could he have been so foolish as to think she was really in love with him? He could remember that day, that horrifying day.

Around 4:00 in the morning, they continued their journey. They landed in an open path and ran until the closed gates of Konoha showed up. They stood in front of them, then the sun just breaking over the mountains.

* * *

_**February 12**_

_Just two more days. Naruto had been planning so much for Valentines Day. Two weeks worth of planning and he knew it was gonna pay off. He and Sakura had been officially declared as a couple about 2 days after their kiss. She had finally realized her feelings for Naruto after all these years and now they had finallly brought it all out. She was surprised to see how romantic Naruto was and he just showed her a side she didn't know he had. This side was much more calm, much more mature, and much more sexy. The others had been surprised, and Hinata, despite her heavy crush on Naruto, had accepted it and moved on, although she did cry herself a new moat for her house. The two seemed perfect for each other, destined to be with each other._

_Sakura was one hottie. All the men in the village drooled over her, except for when she was with Naruto of course. Over the years, her body had matured into a more feminine style, yet also into the body of a ninja. Her figure was sleek, her breasts just below Tsunade's. Her shoulder length, pink hair complimented her always enchanting jade eyes. Naruto was always amazed at her creamy skin and how tender and soft it could be, but strong and durable. He also loved her lips, the feelings he got whenever his own lips touched hers. He had been caught staring at her countless times, but it always ended with a bump on his head, and a nice long make-out session._

_Naruto on the other hand, was becoming one of the village's hottest ninjas. Topped only by the Hyuga prodigy, he was gradually taking over as number 1. Sure, every girl went gaga over him, but if Sakura was by his side, the idiotic women who thought they could steal in a glance at him were met by severe ear injury and broken bones, although they would be healed and broken again and then healed again. Sakura often dreamed of being in a relationship with a nice, caring, strong, and overly cute guy. To her luck, all of that was rolled into one Uzumaki Naruto, and just as luck would have it, had only eyes for her. _

_Sakura often stared at Naruto during their outings together. His teeth were always so shiny, so white, and his face held sort of a cute, yet manly stature. His blonde hair was soft and just gentle to the touch. Meanwhile, his tan arms were strong and smooth and always gave Sakura a safe sense of security whenever she was wrapped around them. She once caught a glance of his chest and abs, and her face had turned as red as a cherry. It was a nice well built frame, but he wasn't too buff nor was he too skinny. His physique was one men loved to achieve, and here she was her own body usually pressed onto it._

_Naruto had been summoned towards the Hokage's office just after putting the finishing touches towards his plan. After his mission briefing, he decided that this would take until just before he would put his plan into motion. Saying goodbye to his girlfriend, he departed from the village, along with his squad of shinobis._

_Sakura on the other hand, had a nice day off today, courtesy of her sensei. She had said that all work and no play was never a good thing, so Sakura had been let off for today to just relax. She had planned on spending it with Naruto, but since he went off on a mission, that went flying out the window. So here she sat, in a restaurant alongside Hinata, Tenten, and Ino for a girl's day out._

"_So Sakura, how have you and Naruto been doing?" Ino spoke then sipping her milkshake._

"_Yeah, have you and Naruto, you know?" Tenten chimed in._

"_Tenten, just cause you and Neji uh huhed, doesn't mean everybody here uh huhed, or else we all would be uh huhing everyday."_

"_Me and Neji uh huh everyday."_

"_Yeah, me and Shikamaru uh huh every single day too and he is very good at uh huhing too despite his chronic laziness."_

"_Well, you two can uh huh all you want, but Naruto and I are just happy making out, thank you very much. I bet Hinata and Kiba are fine just making out, right Hinata?"_

_Hinata had turned very red and started pressing her index fingers together._

"_Um, w-well, K-Kiba and I-I, sort of, um, uh huhed also, b-but not e-everyday."_

_Sakura's face paled. Even Hinata did it with Kiba?!?! Was she the only virgin in her circle of friends?_

"_Sakura, you have got to add a little bit more spice into your life. You guys need excitement, thrill, and action, physical action."_

"_I'll have you know, Naruto and I have done a little groping here and there, but I'm just not ready yet."_

_She said that last part just a little bit over a whisper._

"_Well, I know one thing's for sure," Ino put in, "-is that guys are sex hounds and if you don't give them what they want, they'll grow tired of you and move on." _

_Tenten nodded her head, while Hinata just kinda squirmed in her seat, feeling very uncomfortable about their current discussion._

"_Th-that's not true! Naruto would never do that. I love him and he loves me and that's all that matters."_

"_Sure, forehead girl. Think what you want." Ino had just sipped the remainders of her milkshake and was now starting on her salad. She spent the rest of day with Ino, because the other two had missions, at the hair salon, getting their nails done, a good relaxing massage, and to top it all off, a nice trip to the hot springs. As night came to a close, the two kunoichis said their goodbyes and headed off towards her apartment._

_**February 14 – Valentine's Day**_

_Sakura stood by the gates waiting for Naruto to show up. It was already 3:00 and she had been there since 12:00. He said that he should be back in time for his little surprise and so she waited by the gates awaiting his arrival. Since it was just B-rank mission, she was sure he would return. She was dressed in the dress Naruto had asked her to wear, a body clinging black dress with sakura petals falling diagonally. It stopped just before her knees her attire ending in some black high heels. She couldn't wait till her tonight, or whenever he shows up with his surprise for she had a nice little event planned as well. One that involved a lot of physical action. The scorching heat of the day had made her very uncomfortable and she had begun to get very tired and hot so she found some shade just beside the gates._

_"Guess he's running late." She sighed and was about to turn back when she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. A figure was approaching her, limping as he went. Doctor instincts in effect, she went to the limping man. Getting closer, her eyes widened as she spotted the identity of the man._

_"Sasuke."_

_"Ah crap, I'm gonna be late."_

_Naruto was speeding up, his team falling behing him quickly._

_"Captain, slow down! We'll get there!"_

_"I can't. Sakura-chan's waiting for me at the gates and instinct tells me that she's been waiting there for hours."_

_Naruto sped up again, but his team allowed it. After all, it was Valentine's Day. With a fresh bouquet in his hands he rushed over to Konoha._

_"Sasuke."_

_He began to fall, but she caught him and steadied him to stand. She was in utter shock. Her long time teammate, had come back, bloodied, bruised, and most of all with a smile. She figured he must have done it, as tears welled up in her eyes. She hugged him, which surprised him as he remembered that Sakura from before would've never done this, but this was more of a friendly hug. Maybe coming back wasn't such a bad idea. Of course, he knew that he would be severely punished, he had come back, for a purpose. The other reason he existed. To give the rebirth of the Uchiha clan. He looked at Sakura, who in turn looked back at him._

_"Sakura."_

_She looked at him. She was still frightened around him after their last encounter, but she felt like he was back on the team already. In Sasuke's mind, he knew that doing what he was about to do would make him suffer immense amounts of pain, but he had to make sure, even though he knew the answer just by looking at her._

_"Do you still love me?"_

_"Wha-"_

_Before she could another word, he pressed his lips onto hers, Sakura's mind went in full shock for completely overloading her thinking patterns. 10 seconds had come by and still his lips were pressed on to hers. Her mind, now enveloped in fury, pulled back and slapped him right across the cheek with all the anger formed in her hand. Not long after, Naruto's squad appeared witnessing the slap to the cheek._

_Sakura, noticing other people suddenly barked out orders._

_"Take Sasuke Uchiha to the hospital and inform Hokage-sama about his arrival!" Noticing Naruto wasn't within their group, she looked around and then at the squad. "Where's Naruto?"_

_"Well, he went ahead of us to see you. In fact, he should've been here by now." One of the ninjas said._

_"If he's alre-" She gasped as realization dawned on her. "Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Why, why, why, why??!?"_

_"Is something wrong?"_

_Sakura's eyes wandered around, seeing any signs that Naruto was infact here. She spotted something on the ground and walked up to it. Meanwhile the other ninjas took off, taking Sasuke with them. She picked up the bouquet of flowers when a card fell out. She bent down to pick it up, and read it._

_To the Love of my Life, Sakura-chan,_

_There are only three words that can really show you my feelings for you. Sakura-chan, I Love You._

_-Naruto Uzumaki_

_Tear drops rained on the card as she thought of the possibilities that would happen. Immediately, she took off, to look around the village for Naruto, tears trailing off into the distance._

* * *

Naruto looked towards the gates as the sun peaked out from the mountains. The huge gates opened ever so slightly, taking its precious time, tormenting Naruto's mind. The gap widened and about 2 minutes later, the gates opened revealing The Yellow Wind and the Toad Sage.

* * *

**I'm sure you're all pretty confused by now, with a whole bunch of holes in the story. Well, don't worry, cause the next chapter will fill in those holes and any questions you guys might have had. That means this ends at a cliffhanger, which I know all of you readers enjoy. **

**REVIEW!! REVIEW!! REVIEW!!**


	3. He's Returned

**I'm updating. Cool! Thanks for all the reviews guys and it really has me motivated to type more of this story. Thankfully, I'm getting a lot of freetime for some reason, but I'll take this opportunity to work on things like writing and working on my tennis skills. Oh well, I might as well get as much chapters as I can in this story before I suddenly find myself sleeping for like two hours. Heh, oh well, that's life.**

**Another brand new chapter to The Yellow Wind.**

**He Has Returned**

_**Last time on The Yellow Wind...**_

_Naruto has been feeling depressed for quite a while and it was really noticeable to Jiraiya after one of the many rescues Naruto does. Finding the reason for his gloominess, he leads his apprentice towards the direction of Konoha to take care of his inner conflicts. Also, it is revealed that they have two more days before they become missing-nins and add that as another reason to come back. They arrive just as the sun begins to break through the mountains and await the opening of the gates. Slowly, the gates open, revealing..._

* * *

Sakura had unfortunately been given the task of opening the gates this week as the two regular gate openers left for an all week mission. Being the student of the Hokage does have major upsides, but then again, everything has good and bad consequences. One of those bad consequences is being first in line to fill in tedious jobs like organizing scrolls or going 3 hours overtime at the hospital because the people that do those jobs are away on missions or something. 

Reaching for the incredibly annoying alarm clock, she smashed it into pieces and sat up. Yelling out a loud groan, she stretched out her body, earning a few cracks from her bones. Grudgingly, she stood up and headed to her closet. She pulled out a clock nearly identical to the one she smashed and set it up. Cleaning up the debris on the floor, she went to the bathroom to get ready. By the time she was done, the new clock flashed 4:13. She wasn't supposed to be there until 4:30 so she took this time to eat her breakfast. After finishing her plate consisting of bacon, eggs, rice, and a cup of milk, she glanced at the clock and headed out the door.

* * *

Sasuke woke up in his bed around 4:00 in the morning. Something told him that something powerful had just arrived, his watcher sensing the same thing. 

"Do you feel that, Kakashi?"

He simply nodded before his face turned into a face of a thinker.

"It's that dobe, isn't it?"

Again, he simply nodded.

"Gonna untie me?"

"No."

Sasuke just sighed before directing his attention towards the ceiling. He was beginning to think if coming back was a good idea. I mean, the minute he showed up, he was slapped unconscious in the face by one of his teammates. Well, he did deserve that after all and he knew he probably deserved even more of a punishment. His little stunt drove off one of his reasons of coming back away and he had been shunned by most of his ex-companions, not to mention a whole bunch of potential mates. Luckily for him, most of them, had reconciled with him, although it was more out of pity than anything. He felt he didn't deserve pity or anything at all. In his heart, he felt truly horrible about what he did and vowed to repay his actions. It was his opportunity to start over and restore his clan to its former glory.

For the past two years, he had been under strict punishment for all of his crimes. He was not happy with any of them. His first punishment was that he was to stay in Konoha at all times. He couldn't leave the village, or be within a 10 mile radius of the the gates. That also meant that he was stuck with mostly D-rank missions and being placed with Genins around the age of 12. His other punishment was that he could only appear outside between the hours of 7:00 AM and 9:00 PM. He was totally infuriated with the whole ordeal as it sort of decided how he should live his life. This punishment seriously hurt his pride and that just made him angry.

Another part of his punishment is that he also had a specific way he needed to sleep. His first response to this was just to kill them all, but he knew that that would cause more trouble than he needed at the time. So, he had just started to argue and occasionally whine about it. His sleeping requirements was that he needed someone to watch over him during his sleep. Not so bad. The other thing was that he needed to be strapped down to his bed using a sealing jutsu that he couldn't even break. The seal made it so that he couldn't move on his bed, while he would be constricted with chakra and strapped onto the bed. Of course, to make it even more torturous, they made him also be tied up with rope.

So here he was, awake at 4:00 in the morning, restricted on his bed until 6:30 while hearing Kakashi's giggles and such. How could the great Uchiha be reduced to a ninja wrapped up in special seals like a mental person? Easy, it was Hiashi Hyuga to arrange all this.

"_That bastard! I'm gonna kill him...in a year, 2 months, 3 days, 6 hours, and 2 minutes from now. How the hell did I know that?" _He paused for a minute._ "Yup, I'm definitely gonna kill him."_

* * *

Sakura walked towards the gates and prepared the hand signs to open the gates. She had this feeling in the pit of her gut that something was gonna happen, something bad. She pressed her hands and a whole bunch of writing spread out and allowed the gate to open. She was about to turn around when something yellow appeared from the corner of her eye. Her eyes widened into huge plate sizes as she let out a gasp, bringing her hand up towards her mouth. 

"It c-can't b-be-"

* * *

"Sakura!" 

Naruto's eyes met his eyes the same size as hers as they simply stared at each other with thoughts racing all over their minds.

"_**Stop thinking so much Kit! Your thoughts are actually reaching towards me!"**_

Although the demon had been shouting at his maximum to stop his vessel from actually flooding his place of residence with his thoughts and memories, Naruto didn't hear anything except the sound of his own shock. His heart beat faster as he started to form little sweat beads on his forehead. This was not what he had expected when returning to his old home. Of all the things that could of happened, why did this have to happen.

Sakura began to feel similar symptoms. Her mind had filled with so many thoughts and memories that she wasn't sure if she could stand ground. She was on the verge of having a heart attack. Here she was, standing right before the man who had caused her so much pain and depression, yet all she could do was stare deep into his blue eyes, reminding her of the memories of her most horrible time in her life.

* * *

_He had left. Her, alongside the Rookie Nine and Gai's team, had just heard the most hurtful news they could ever had heard. They could deal with the death of their Hokage, the death of their senseis, even the losing a member of their group, yet they just couldn't deal with this. Naruto, the one who yelled out to the whole world that his dream was to become Hokage, yet here he was, leaving Konoha. Hinata had just plain out fainted, a pool of tears running forming around her._

_"What do you mean he left!" Kiba's voice reached an all time high that nearly cracked the glass. Tears were evident on everyone's eyes, even Shino's. Neji had just simply turned around as Tenten quickly turned to comfort him and herself. Although they weren't good friends, Naruto just had that effect on people._

_Tsunade, who had also been hurt tremendously after hearing and confirming he left, held back a fountain of tears. She was the Hokage and as such, she couldn't breakdown among the ninjas in her office. She had to be strong, but found it difficult when she was feeling cold and lifeless. Naruto was like the son she never had and here he went and left without saying a word._

_"For some reason or another, Uzumaki Naruto has left the village," she paused, trying to hold back the tears that so desperately wanted to flow "Luckily," the occupants in the rooms had perked their heads up filled with hope, "Jiraiya followed and encountered him just before he entered the Deep Forest. He sent me one of his toads attached with a scroll describing his situation."_

_The others in the room were awaiting impatiently as she paused before speaking again. The Hokage took a deep breath before continuing._

_"Although I won't go into great detail into what happened," she glanced at Sakura but quickly turned her attention to Sasuke and then to the audience. Sakura caught this and hung her head with tears forming a puddle just below her. Sasuke, who also had been in the room in a full body cast, began to be guilty for his action. He had just returned for one day and all this drama happens. In one day, his feelings returned. But that had been a 2 days ago._

_"He will not be returning for quite a while."_

_The others hung their heads and the room was about to flood if not for Tsunade's voice._

_"But, I did give him an opportunity to come back. I convinced the council to postpone his label as missing-nin for about 2 years. When that time is up, he should return back."_

_"But how does he know this?" Shino spoke, his voice slightly faulted due to this new experience of crying._

_"The toad that Jiraiya summoned was still here, so we sent him with a note about this news."_

_The others in the room brightened up just slightly. There was a chance that he would be coming back, but there was the other chance that he wouldn't. Still, that made the ninja there a little happy. There was still hope. Though, one Haruno Sakura did not feel happy at all. Sure there was a little hope, but the guilt that she was feeling was just too much for her body at all. After being dismissed, she sulked as she walked towards her home slowly. A trail of tears followed her and the others felt like comforting her, but knew to just stay away._

_She reached her apartment and immediately headed to her room. Closing her windows and blinds, she locked the door and climbed into bed. She grabbed the yellow pillow that reminded her of Naruto and hugged it close to her body. She laid on her side and cried. For two hours, she stayed like that, while thinking of all the memories of Naruto. She glanced at the vase of flowers just beside her vase. Those were the flowers she found on the floor that day and the note he had written lay just beside her vase. Remembering more memories, she cried herself to sleep, nightmares plaguing her mind._

_She awoke the next morning after having a horrible nightmare. Feeling so much guilt and sadness in her heart, she reached for the kunai on her table and pointed it towards her heart. She loved him so much, that this was the only way she thought, she could live, by not living herself._

_"No! Naruto wouldn't want me to do this! He would absolutely hate me if I did! Of all the things that happened, I don't want him to be sad. I'm sorry."_

_She placed the kunai back on her desk and got up to get ready for the morning._

* * *

Sakura couldn't hold it anymore. This was just overwhelming her body too much. She snapped. Her tears came out running like a rushing river, like it had a never ending flow. She fell on her knees and quickly hugged herself, feeling cold all of a sudden. 

Naruto, on instinct, ran to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, gently shaking her.

"Sakura? Sakura!!"

She looked up to see cerulean blue eyes staring at her filled with...concern? Naruto finally got a hold of the situation and stood up and lent out his hand. She accepted his gesture and took his hand which was a little bit shaky at feeling the contact of her skin. He felt so lost. Why was she crying like that? Why had he felt concern for her? Wasn't she in love with Sasuke? Shouldn't I be angry at her? What is going on?

They stood there, looking into each others eyes. They saw it. All the sadness, grief, sorrow, anger, and guilt. All of it. Naruto felt a sting at his heart. Did he cause all of this? He began to speak, but felt Sakura place a finger on his mouth. This brought back memories, the best memory of his life.

"I'm sorry."

"You, sorry? Why?"

"About the kiss." A single tear fell down her cheeks.

"I'm sure you and Sasuke are happy with each other. I guess I was just your play-toy till he came back huh? I was being stupid thinking you would actually fall for me."

"No! That is not what happened! Naruto you've got it all wrong!" She was feeling hurt. The same pain she felt when she heard of his defection. How could he actually say that?

"Yeah, I've got it all wrong! Sakura, I saw it with my own eyes!"

"But did you see what happened after that!"

"Why would I want to stay watching the love of my life kiss her previous crush! Especially on Valentine's Day!"

"I guess you missed the fact that I completely slapped him unconscious right!"

"You, what?"

"Naruto, I don't love Sasuke. He was just a stupid crush that I could never have. He lived only for vengeance and that was it."

"B-but you were hugging him while I saw it!"

It looked like there was a lot to be said. So she explained it all, starting from the beginning. At the end of her story, Naruto had been completely taken over by guilt. How could he have been so foolish? To think that she would ever cheat on him like that? He mentally hit him self causing the Kyuubi to growl furiously.

"I-I'm sorry Sakura-chan. I can't believe I ran away from here just because I jumped to conclusions. I'm so stupid. Destroying the one and only relationship with the only person I can only think of being with. One of my dreams was to always make you happy, but I failed. I caused you sadness for 2 years and I don't know how I could live with myself."

His body began to shake uncontrollably as he looked towards his hands. Tears started to form at his eyes which was Sakura's cue to step in.

"Don't be Naruto. I've missed you since the day you left. I never once stopped thinking about you. You were the only person I've ever wanted to be with. Sometimes, I go to that path we took that night, remember?" She looked downwards. "Even after all these years and all that's happened, I-I..." she trailed off.

He lifted her chin up and took her hands in his, looking straight into her eyes. A silence followed and then a breeze of the wind.

"There are only three words that can show my feelings for you. Sakura-chan, I love you."

He leaned in and their lips met. Sakura had flinched for a second, her eyes widened. Soon, she returned the kiss with just as much passion as he was giving her. These emotions that had been locked up for 2 years. She missed this feeling, this amount of love she was feeling. This was it, the moment they had been waiting for. In this kiss, was their love. They broke apart for air and soon their eyes locked onto each others. For quite a while, a silence followed, but was broken by Sakura.

"I love you, too."

The blonde-haired legend pulled her in for another kiss as the sun peeked from the mountains and shone brightly on them. A white dove flew out from the distance and into the sky.

* * *

"Leader-sama!" 

"What is it Zetsu?"

"Uzumaki Naruto has returned to the village."

"Good. We can finally put this plan into action."

"Yes, Leader-sama."

As he left, the leader turned around and faced a spot on the wall.

"Container of the Kyuubi, you shall soon be mine!"

* * *

**Ooooh! Looks like Naruto and Sakura got back together, but there seems to be evil somewhere else. What's going to happen? I don't know, but stay tuned for another chapter of The Yellow Wind.**

**Review! Review!! Review!!!**


	4. Ramen Meeting

**Whoo! Time to update! Alright, now I am not happy with the amount of reviews I've been getting and so far, it's not making me productive. If you have a problem with the chapter, just send it in review form. That way, it gives me a basis as to what I should do the next chapter. That's what reviews are for. Please readers, Review! Review!! Review!!! I don't put that at the end of the chapter for decoration.**

**Anyways away from my review rant, I'm happy I at least got ten reviews in for the last chapter. So now I'm typing up this next chapter for all those readers out there. Thanks for reading it guys cause I like the number of hits I have for this story. At least you're all still reading it. **

**Alright, on with the story of The Yellow Wind.**

**Ramen Meeting**

_**Last time on The Yellow Wind...**_

_Sakura was given the job to open the gates in the morning. She reached the gates and opened it to find Naruto and Jiraiya standing on the other side. Seeing them, a wave of memories flooded into her mind about her receiving the news about his departure from the village. Coming from her memories, she broke down crying only to be comforted by the one who had given her grief. After reconciling with each other, they admit their love for each other and kiss. In another place, the Akatsuki leader discusses something with one of his subordinates and says, "Container of the Kyuubi, you shall soon be mine..."_

"I'm glad you're back."

"Me too, me too."

They hugged each other with Naruto resting his chin on her head as she laid her head into his chest. She could feel the soft thumps of his heart and began to lean more into it. She missed this a lot as she remembered the times they would stay like this in the middle of the park or in his apartment. Since it was still early in the morning, it was fairly quiet as some shops started open, and other people appeared out of their homes. Jiraiya, apparently still there during the whole ordeal, put away his notepad as he cleared his throat. The two ninjas quickly jerked apart,blushing, and looked straight towards the ground. They forgot about him.

"So now that you two have made up, which was quite faster than I thought, we need to go see the Hokage. She's not dead yet, is she?"

"No, Jiraiya-sama. Although if she keeps drinking that sake of hers, she'll end up killing herself."

"So that old hag is still here, huh? Good. Then I'll be able to fight her when I make it to Hokage."

The two chuckled at this as they saw Naruto's fun side again. It has been a long time since either of them had seen it, and they were thankful for that. Just a few hours ago, he had bee complaining about coming back, but now they were seeing him pumping his fists into the air at his return.

"We should get going. Naruto!"

"Right! On to the Hokage's office!"

"_Get me out of here!"_

Naruto was not enjoying his few moments in the office. Right as he entered, a sake bottle was thrown at his head. Then, after recovering from the shock, found himself in the death hold of the Hokage. She hugged him so hard, that his bones literally cracked as his body seemed to deflate right where she hugged him. Was she trying to kill him?

That was answered when she bonked him in the head just after she released him.

"DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!! DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS!?!?! WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU!?!?!? IF YOU LEAVE EVER AGAIN, I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND SLICE OFF YOUR LEGS SO THAT YOU'LL NEVER RUN AGAIN!!! UNDERSTAND?!?!?!"

Everything in the room shook as the ground seemed to rumble. Everyone within range could hear it loud and clear. Everyone woke up from their beds, the loud noise disturbing them from their sleep.

"What the hell was that?" Kiba spoke before he laid back down on his bed.

"Oh my God! Is the Hokage trying out for alarm clock of Konoha or something!?!" Ino whined.

Choji just sat up and busted his innocent alarm clock to pieces before going back to sleep.

"Troublesome," was all Shikamaru and his father said before heading back to sleep.

"Naruto's back," Sasuke whispered to himself as he closed his eyes.

For those actually within close range of her voice, blood started to come out. Naruto was fairly certain that he would become deaf after his meeting with the Hokage. Backing down, Tsunade immediately turned around and sat back down onto her chair. She propped up her elbows on the desk as she gestured for them to sit down. Naruto had that WTF! look on his face, but one glance at his mentor told him to just shrug it off. Sakura, however, was sort of used to this voice and only had a ringing sound in her ear.

"I'm glad that you came back Naruto...Naruto?"

She was waving her hand in front of him quickly getting his attention.

"What?"

Her mouth started moving, but no sound was coming out, or at least that's what he thought was happening.

"What?"

Finding out the problem, she waited a while. For about 2 minutes, they sat in silence before she reached over towards his ear and had a green chakra aura around her hand. Pinching his earlobe, she gently yanked it and then the other one.

"Naruto?"

He looked towards her and found that he could hear again.

"Good."

"So what do we need to talk about 'cause I'm getting hungry."

"Well, first things first. Now that you are back, you have to sign a whole bunch of forms and all that fun stuff and then you will have a meeting with the council around 10. Now, although your punishment won't be as severe as that Uchiha kid, you will be punished for your actions."

He groaned at the though of being bored for the whole morning, but reluctuntly nodded his head in agreement.

"Good. The meeting will primarily discuss your punishment in which a display of what you have accomplished these past years will follow. Seems the council wants to check if you've actually improved over these past few years, but I'm sure you'll show them, right?"

"Of course! Not good for the future Hokage to become weak!"

"That's the Naruto I've been waiting to hear for a long time. I thought you would never comeback, and I was really scared that I would have to mark you as a missing-nin. I think of you as the son I never had, and I just so happy you came back."

A lone tear came out of the corner of her eye, but she wiped it off quickly.

"Thank you. That means a lot to me. I'm glad I came back too." He looked at her straight into the eye and gave her one of his real smiles. His face looked so happy, so joyous. She knew that what she just said would make him joyous beyond belief and she meant every word of it. He began to get up, but her voice made him turn to her.

"Wait! I have one more thing to say."

He plopped back down onto the chair. She opened her drawer and handed him his old Konoha headband. He quickly said his thanks and tied it around his head.

"After the meetings, I would like you to follow me somewhere."

"Where are we going?"

"That is a surprise."

Although he had aged and matured over the past few years, surprises always made him giddy inside. He loved surprises and even if they aren't always for him, he would always get excited over them. With everything said and done, he got up and walked away, Sakura following behind him. When they were out of earshot, she turned her attention towards her longtime comrade.

"I've heard about him. They call him The Yellow Wind, right?"

"Yeah."

"That means you must have given him the scroll."

"Yeah."

"He would be proud wouldn't he?"

"Not a doubt in my mind. I'm sure he would be very proud of him. He's a strong guy, not just in physical strength, but in mental strength also."

"Alright. Now I remember Sakura hanging out with Naruto. I take it she explained it to him."

"Yeah, there was a whole bunch of explaining."

"What do you mean?"

He took out his notebook where he writes all his material and started reading everything he wrote on it.

"And then he kissed her."

"Wow. To think that the day I send her to open the gates, she finds you two on the other side and ends up making up with Naruto that fast."

"Well, during our travels, Naruto would often sleep talk. Most of the time it was about ramen, but sometimes he says stuff like 'Sakura-chan I love you' or 'Kiss me Sakura-chan' and other stuff."

"I've known for a long time she still had feelings for Naruto. Still making up that quickly and going into a relationship seems pretty rushed to me."

"I guess love works in mysterious ways."

"You're right, I guess."

Naruto and Sakura were walking side-by-side until they reached an all too familiar part of the village. The old training grounds of Team 7. Man, this brought back memories for the both of them. Sakura hadn't been here in a long time although she didn't know why. I mean, sure she came here maybe once or twice to train, but since most of her medical training was done in the Hokage's building, she didn't really come there.

She could clearly see the huge crater she made during training her taijutsu and a really big dent in the ground where she first summoned Katsuya. Coming back from her memories, she noticed Naruto studying the huge crater.

"Wow! Whoever did this sure is strong!"

The pink haired nin just blushed and walked over to where he was.

"I did that during one of my training sessions."

"You sure are strong, Sakura-chan!"

Once again she blushed. She didn't get a lot of those types of compliments since she was usually stuck in the village doing work at the hospital and not being able to show off her physical strength. Of course, she didn't oppose to this lifestyle, she just wished she could show off more of her strength.

"Thanks!"

A loud grumbling sound was heard and she turned her face towards the source. She traced it back to Naruto's stomach and knew what he needed to do.

"Whoa! I forgot to eat because of all the things that happened today. Sakura-chan, wanna go have a bite to eat at Ichiraku?

"Sure!"

Neji and Lee had a mission together around six so they were sitting at Ichiraku. They had just started eating and they were just talking about the mission and other casual stuff.

"Did you hear Hokage-sama?"

"Yeah."

"Why do you think she was screaming?"

"..."

"I mean what could make her scream so loud like that?"

"..."

"She hasn't screamed like that since Naruto was here."

The both went back into another silence as they both thought about there friend. They heard a rumor about him being the Yellow Wind, so they was very excited if he was ever to return. That would just mean a new challenge the both of them could take, albeit Lee showing it more than his partner. Both Neji and Lee were thinking about this and a smile graced their lips at the thought.

"Why are you two smiling like that?"

They turned around upon hearing the familiar voice. Rock Lee had ramen in his mouth and he nearly choked on it. Neji just had s shocked look on his face before he tried to turn it back to cool mode. Although most people couldn't see it, he had a very shocked look on his face. Lee finally swallowed his food, but then noticed his old friend standing in front of him.

"N-Naruto!"

He smiled sheepishly and put a hand behind his back.

"Um, hi, guys!"

The two leaf Jonins just stared at him, obviously surprised to see their long time friend just standing there in all his glory. He sure changed over the past few years. His hair was now spikier and free flowing and just barely crossed the forehead protector. The whisker marks were still noticeable and his eyes seemed a bit darker than the last time they remembered him. His face had matured and now looked as hard as steel. Neji swore that he looked just like the Fourth Hokage.

He wore an unzipped red vest as well as a black shirt underneath with a Japanese character for wind designed in the middle. He wore black pants with weapon holders and standard ninja sandals. On his left arm, there was a starting of a tattoo as the rest of it was covered by the sleeve of his shirt. On his left middle finger, he noticed a ring with a blood red colored ruby that seemed to be containing chakra. Neji just wondered about it and decided he would ask him later.

"Wow! It really is you!"

Almost immediately, Rock Lee ran over to Naruto in the blink of an eye and was just grinning happily at the blonde. The Hyuga just walked up closely to Naruto and noticed a fluff of pink hair beside him.

"Hello Sakura." He stated calmly.

"Hello Neji. Good morning Lee."

"GOOD MORNING TO YOU TOO! ISN'T IT GREAT THAT NARUTO IS BACK!!"

The whole restaurant turned towards the commotion and saw a tall figure with golden colored hair and blue eyes beside Sakura and in conversation between the two former members of Gai's team. A sudden burst of whispers flooded the now expanded ramen restaurant as Teuchi and Ayame looked towards the people causing this commotion. Their eyes widened as they spotted their favorite customer standing there.

"Naruto! Naruto!"

Said man peered over the green clad man and saw the cook responsible for his ramen that he would eat almost everyday. He put on one of his biggest smiles at the thought of having another bowl of good ramen again.

"Hey old man!"

"Still haven't changed, have ya?"

Naruto made his way towards the bar and immediately placed an order for 10 bowls of ramen. Laughing heartedly, the cook turned around and started to work on his ramen. Teuchi and Ayame were bursting with joy cause their blonde haired favorite customer finally returned after all these years. Not to mention coming back more handsome than last time they saw him. The old chef talked over his shoulder while preparing the noodles.

"Great to see you back Naruto. Been way too quiet around here with you gone."

"Great to be back. Finally, some decent ramen!"

"Haha! Good ol' Naruto. So I heard that you were The Yellow Wind. Is that correct?"

"Yeah, but I don't even know where that name came from. I'd rather have the title of Hokage." He stated matter of factly.

"You must be pretty strong then."

"YES NARUTO! YOU MUST GIVE ME THE OPPORTUNITY TO CHALLENGE YOU TO A DUEL! SURELY YOU WILL NOT PASS THIS CHALLENGE!"

A shout sounded from the distance that sounded like a shut-up, but Lee didn't hear it.

"Sure. What about you Neji?"

"Sure, but it will have to wait till Lee and I finish our mission."

The Gai-copy face fell slightly, before he brought right back up with more determination in his eyes.

"I CAN'T WAIT TILL THAT DAY COMES WHEN WE WILL GET TO DUEL! COME NEJI, WE MUST LEAVE NOW SO THAT OUR CHANCE TO CHALLENGE NARUTO WILL COME SOONER!!"

"Alright Lee. It was nice finally seeing you come back, Naruto. I will see you guys later."

The two Jonins just poofed out, leaving their money on the table. They sped across the rooftops to get to the main gates.

"Isn't it great that Naruto's back?"

"Hn."

A thought just popped into Lee's head.

"Wasn't Sakura with him?"

He received a nod from Neji.

"Didn't Naruto runaway because he saw-"

"Don't worry. Everyone knows it's not Sakura's fault, and she probably explained it all by now. Didn't she have gate duty this earlier this morning?"

"That's right. Maybe things will get to normal now."

The two ninjas arrived at the gates ten minutes late and their team was not happy. Their captain, Shino did not look pleased as he was the most strict person in Konoha. Everything had to be on the dot to him and 10 minutes late was not making him happy. He spoke to them in a calm, yet annoyed voice.

"Where were you two? Do you realize how late you are?"

"Sorry, but we ran into someone just now."

"Oh, and who was it?"

Neji just smirked and replied in a confident voice.

"Well, he has blonde hair, blue eyes, and whiskers on his face?"

Although his face didn't show it, his body sure did. His body stiffened slightly as it leaned a little to the back showing the shock he had as he realized who he was describing.

"Where did you meet him?"

This time, the now grinning Rock Lee spoke up.

"In Ichiraku, duh!"

"Figures."

The three Jonins turned to the rest of their team who looked baffled at their discussion. Most of them didn't know Naruto and only knew that he defected from the village. All of them had a question in mind and one of them finally asked the question.

"Why are you so happy about that guy who defected coming back? Aren't you supposed to report it to the Hokage immediately?"

"Don't worry," Shino spoke, "he'll be fine. Alright, we've wasted enough time. Time to move out."

They left the gates and into the deep forests ahead.

"Mmmmm! Tasty as ever! Your ramen sure is the best!"

The Jinchuriki leaned back on the chair as he rubbed his stomach signifying that he was done eating. Sakura just finished her first bowl and looked towards him with a raised eyebrow. His bowls were all stacked nicely on top of each other, making a decently sized tower. Paying up, he took Sakura by the hand and led her outside. Teuchi just looked at them and smiled contently.

"Look at that Ayame. They meet up with each other in one day and it's like they've never been apart."

His daughter just smiled at the two retreating figures before facing her dad."

"Love is weird, isn't it?"

"Yup."

The Akatsuki leader entered a large basement that contained an oval table consisting of 10 chairs. One chair at each end, and 4 chairs on one side, 4 chairs on the other. Not too far was the huge statue of the beast with chained hands and 9 eyes. Pein sat at the end of the table as he telepathically called all of his members to join him. Several minutes later, all members showed up in holographic form, minus Itachi.

"Uzumaki Naruto has returned to Konoha. As you may know, since we now know all locations of the tailed beasts, we can finally put our plans into action. However, since Itachi is no longer with us, we will need another member before we can move on. Does anyone have any recommendations?"

A huge bulky person with braided hair and a cloth that covered his mouth spoke up.

"I do, Pein-sama. I've been tracking him lately and his skills seem to be at the standards of Akatsuki level. Plus a medic-nin of his calibur should prove useful to us."

The Leader seemed to consider this for a moment before coming to a conclusion.

"Bring him here. Take Deidara with you. I will call you all again once our new candidate arrives. Dismissed."

**Whew! What a chapter. I still think of this as mostly filler and I'm kind of running out of ideas as to what to do with it. Anyways, I'm sure it will all fold out in the end. **

**Please review! Review!! Review!!!**


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